3 August 2016
Kim and I headed South once again.This time, to see a little more of my family, visit with our excellent friends Maria, Dan and Noah in Charlotte and eventually wind up at my childhood beach on the southern coast of North Carolina. The ultimate destination was good old Webster Cottage In Kure Beach (also known as Kure Cottage), for a blissful week with our amazing friends from Phonecia, New York; Robert, Holly and Jack (and Jack's Mom Mary and Holly's brother Owen and his son). Quite a trip and quite a crew.
One our way down, as mentioned in a previous post, we have, for several years now, stopped at Kuba Kuba. Our absolute favorite Cuban restaurant outside Havanah. This trip, we determined to mix it up and seek the best fried chicken we could find. Well, find it we did. Mucho recommendation-o for Lee's Fried Chicken in Richmond, Virginia. Hot, crispy, tasty, not-greasy, excellent sides. Totally worth the side trip to the other side of Richmond from the Interstate.
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| Aw yeah, Fried Chicken goodness! |
We caught up with our pals and marveled at their newly renovated kitchen and beautiful new floors. Also of note; very nearby we found a delicious French Cafe, Amelie's, with all manner of homemade baked goodness and very strong, very tasty coffee. We availed ourselves every morning we were there.
That evening, we stepped out to Ilios Noche, a Spanish style-mediterranean fusion restaurant that was completely out of this world delicious. We all had amazing Tapas style appetizers that would have sufficed for the meal but alas, more food to come! It was truly memorable. The Baclava Sundae was incredible and worth the trip there by itself. In fact, it was so scrumptious, Kim needed two forks....
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| Om nom nom Amelie Cafe, Charlotte NC |
4 August 2016
This fine, hot, southern day found us visiting my sister at her longtime employer, Nicks Veterinary Hospital. We hung out with the dogs and cats and caught up with Kathy. It was pretty sweet to see her in her element. To say she was born to this work would just about be accurate!
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| Cuties! |
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| Ilios Noche Crew |
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| One of the greatest desserts ever! The Baclava Sundae! |
5 August 2016
It was off to Kannapolis see Grandpa for the second time last summer. It was a lovely visit and we caught up on all kinds of things and as always, many, many stories! We are all amazingly blessed that at 93 years old, he still remembers details from his early 20s.
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| 1966 and 1923..Not bad in 2016! |
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| Peach Cobbler at Pike's |
7 August 2016
Saturday the 6th was a travel day as we said goodbye for now to our friends and headed east on the new Interstate 74. During that day, we passed right by the Hotel at which we had stayed a few weeks prior when headed North. We arrived at Carolina Beach in the early afternoon and set about getting the keys as our friends had other commitments (Son Jack was in a play), and would be joining us very late on Sunday night/Early Monday morning. As luck would have it, there was an ABC store directly across the street from the Realty office so we ducked in for liquid libations and then headed South across the Snow's Cut bridge to Carolina Beach proper and then a little further South still to good old Kure Beach. I have actually been going to that beach since before I was even 1 year old. It was my childhood beach from 1966 to 1978. I returned again in 1990 for a few nights and then, through a serious of too-amazing-to-be-believed coincidences, returned again in the summer of 2012. It was that trip that allowed me to reclaim that peaceful, unfussy, beautiful stretch of Atlantic coastline for my adult self. We returned again in 2014 and then again this past summer. I'd go every summer if could and who knows, maybe I will?
We ventured down to the sand with our new cabana, (purchased for the threat of rain at my epic birthday party back in May), and a better 60$ I don't know if I've ever spent. We used it every day we were there and having ample shade meant I could hang on the beach for hours. I never do that. Now I can! It was a lovely afternoon!
That evening, Kim and I headed to Carolina Beach and tucked into some truly remarkable Low Country Boil at the Shuckin Shack. That, with a local IPA and a day of driving, we slept well!
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| Low Country Boil at the Shuckin Shack |
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| Kim and I Kure Beach summer 2016 |
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| Mom and I Kure Beach 1967 |
9 August 2016
Monday the 8th was a whirlwind of Parents, friends and family members descending on Kure Cottage with the requisite catching up, chatting, cocktails, laughter, food and good cheer.
I love those guys; I really do.
On Tuesday, we traipsed back down to the sand for a serious beach day with our friends. The water was warm and inviting and the koozies really kept the beer cold! Between the cold beverages, shade, salt spray, great conversation and general well-being, we wound up down there for over 4 hours. For certain, a record for me! Later after dinner, some of us fed the seagulls the shrimp shells.
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| BFFs! |
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| My office for the day.... |
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| Feeding the birds.... |
10 August 2016
Another amazing day at the beach! As great as it had been and considering how restless I tend to get, I headed out to the border with South Carolina to stock up on fireworks. It was about an 80 minute drive one way as I swung up though Wilmington and then South on the great east coast highway, the storied US 17. I passed through the tiny hamlets of Supply and Grissetown N.C. before just barely crossing the border near Shallote and Carolina Shores and into Little River. My destination was State Line Fireworks. It was a Wednesday morning about 1030 am and myself and the proprietor were the only people in the place. I stocked up for myself and my pal Paul and his 2 sons and then pointed the Golf north again towards Kure Cottage. On the way back, I stopped off to see my old teaching buddy Ellen Irish! Imagine my surprise when in response to one of my elegiac Facebook posts about our time at Kure Beach, she messaged me to say that she and her husband had relocated to Wilmington, Just across the Snow's Cut Bridge from Carolina Beach! Their house is beautiful and we spent a lovely hour and a half snacking and sipping wine (that Rich bottles himself!) and catching up on all kinds of things. If that is what retirement looks like, I can't wait!!!
While I was gone, there was lot of parallel play and a trip to the store for the evening's libations.
It turned out to be among the most beautiful beach evenings while we were there.
The temps hung in the lower 80s and the humidity dropped a few millibars. The ladies fixed up their own Low Country Boil with about 2 pounds of fresh-caught shrimp and mid-summer sweet corn, red-skin new potatoes, andoullie sausage and all the fixin's. We felt like kings and queens! We had also purchased our very own bottle of Corralejo Tequila and the margaritas went as down smoothly as the sunset which we watched from the porch as we ate. It was a memorable tableau.
Some time after our dinners had settled and the sun had gone down, Kim, Robert, Holly and I ventured out to Vinny's Place in Carolina Beach for Wednesday night Karaoke. Kim and Robert wowed the crowd as professionals are wont to do. Kim was tickled pink that 90% of the tunes the amateurs chose were country tunes or country-flavored tunes. "We're in the South! It's Country Karaoke!" (said with a 1,000 Watt smile across her face.
Again, what an amazing day....
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| The view from in front of the cottage. |
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| Food Porn |
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| Behold, Low Country Boil! |
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| Amazing voice, 1000 watt smile.... |
11 August 2016
More beach time this day, but later in the afternoon. Kim and I headed into Wilmington to explore and have some lunch. What a beautiful smallish town it is these days. We walked around downtown and saw the sights, got some coffee and found a Music Store/Jewelry Store to poke around in. The store was almost 100 years old and had been selling musical instruments and diamonds since it's inception. Finkelstein's was amazing.
Eventually, we found Bourbon Street, a New Orleans themed restaurant right downtown. It was just what we need and the Po Boy was delicious as was the hyper-local (right down the street) IPA. Sated again, we headed back to Kure Cottage for beach time and our last night at the coast. We had to drive back on Friday as my band, The Hoppin John Orchestra had scored a cherry gig at the 2016 Bethlehem MusikFest. Two sold out houses for both sets and 4 CDs sold. A great night, by the way!
After getting back we were amazed but not surprised to see Special Ops soldiers practicing water landings with their -1 Charlies. Maybe that's what they still use? That's what we had back in the 1990s! Several passes by a Blackhawk at about 1000-1200 feet and 10-12 canopies were drifting toward the warm water off of Kure Beach. i could just make out a couple of Zodiacs picking up the soggy soldiers. Considering that Fort Bragg is close by and the big Marine base at Camp Lejune is just up the coast, I speculated that those troopers could have been any one of several Special Ops units on a training mission. The chopper was too far away to make any markings and they would have been subdued anyway. I suppose it is natural for my mind to take me back to those days in the early, mid and late 1990s when I wore a uniform most days. It was cool to see and to share what I could of my experience with my wife and friends.
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| Special Ops troops about to get wet |
Once back at the cottage, we whiled away our last night with stories and songs (Robert and I both brought our guitars), more tequila and more snacks. Across the week with Robert, Holly, Jack, Mary and Owen, there was much talk of Jack's impending move to college. He seemed excited but a little apprehensive as is to be expected. Also, the 2016 Summer Olympics were on TV and we did watch a few games. The Women's Volleyball finals engendered some discussion of the efficacy of various Olympic sporting uniforms.
Later, we went down the beach one more time to look at my stargazing app AND shoot off some of the fantastic fireworks.
A lovely evening with the crew, again.
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| The Kure Krew 2016 |
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| Bourbon Street, Wilmington |
12 August 2016
We left fairly early as we decided to take the scenic route home. Stopping by Britt's Donuts in Carolina Beach and Wake N Bake Donut shop for coffee, we headed north on US 17 and traveled through the most historic part of the Old North State.
A word about Britt's Donuts.
They are, without a doubt, some of the best, hottest, tastiest, old-school style donuts I've ever had. They are in the top three types I've ever encountered. The other two were: a farm stand/restaurant on US 7 in far northeast Massachuesetts just south of the Vermont border on a freezing cold December afternoon the week after Christmas about 1998 and....a greasy, steaming hot bag of mini donuts made by the Boy Scouts at the Durham Fair in Durham Connecticut in the fall of 2009. IF you're ever in Carolina Beach during the day (especially in the morning), stop by Britt's. There is usually a line but it moves quickly and is completely worth the wait.
We made our way up the coastal plain of North Carolina and then into the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area before our beautiful journey across the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel. During this part of the trip, we passed through historic hamlet after historic hamlet. We also passed fairly close to Chowan University, longtime employer of one of Mom's dearest and oldest friends, Dr. Robert Mulder. It made me think about those two a fair amount as we passed by.
Also along the way near Elizabeth City, we saw a number of giant windmills in a long, low cut running northwest to southeast toward the coast. You could see from the lay of the land that wind could travel uninhibited for miles in each direction. No trees, buildings or land masses in the way.
It is at least true for me that the journey, and the things one sees and the people one meets and the experiences one has, are sometimes, even more meaningful, memorable and amazing than the destination. That is why to take the ling way home, the scenic route, the road less traveled.
In search of Virginia BBQ, we found Megallons Gourmet Barbecue very near the Joint Base Little Creek, home of military musicians for generations. We sat at the bar and chowed down, It was unusual in that it was chopped and came pre-sauced. Reviews were mixed.
Next up we passed through, over and under the wonder of the world that is the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel. It was maybe the 4th time I've ever had the pleasure. It is breathtakingly beautiful and a marvel of engineering. On the other side, we sought out some coffee and and after some confusing directions, eventually found enough caffeine to get us home.
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| Little Creek BBQ |
All told, it was a remarkable 11 day trip: Family, friends, sunshine, tequila, historic sights, engineering marvels, low country boil, songs and stories. The fact that it was with the best traveling companion/copilot ever made it ever so much more enjoyable, easy and beautiful. Thank you to my intrepid wife!
1557 Miles 8/3 - 8/12 2016
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